Antoine François Jean Claudet

Who was Antoine François Jean Claudet?

Antoine François Jean Claudet was a French photographer and artist who produced daguerreotypes. He was born in Lyon, was active in Great Britain and died in London. He was a student of Louis Daguerre.

Having acquired a share in L. J. M. Daguerre's invention, he was one of the first to practice daguerreotype portraiture in England, and he improved the sensitizing process by using chlorine in addition to iodine, thus gaining greater rapidity of action. He also invented the red dark-room light, and it was he who suggested the idea of using a series of photographs to create the illusion of movement. The idea of using painted backdrops is also attributed to him.

From 1841 to 1851 he operated a studio on the roof of the Adelaide Gallery, behind St. Martin's in the Fields church, London. He opened subsequent studios at the Colosseum in Regent's Park and at 107 Regent Street.

In 1848 he produced the photographometer, an instrument designed to measure the intensity of photogenic rays; and in 1849 he brought out the focimeter, for securing a perfect focus in photographic portraiture. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1853, and in 1858 he produced the stereomonoscope, in reply to a challenge from Sir David Brewster. In 1851 he moved his business to 107 Regent Street, where he established what he called a "Temple to Photography."